Burn dressing



J. F. GRAHAM BURN DRESSING Sept. 26, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 4,1965 JOb p 6 J. F. GRAHAM 3,343,531

BURN DRESSING Filed June 4, 1965 v v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

United States Patent ()fifice 3,343,537 Patented Sept. 26, 19673,343,537 BURN DRESSING James F. Graham, 10509 S. Drake, Chicago, Ill.60655 Filed June 4, 1965, Ser. No. 461,405 6 Claims. (Cl. 128-156) Myinvention relates to an improvement in burn dressmg.

It is well known that burn dressing devices of conventional design havemany failings, one of which is a need for medication either by way ofVaseline oils or other chemicals to be used in conjunction with the burndressing.

It is further well known that burn dressings of conventional designadhere to the normal unburned skin as well as the burn areas.

It is further well known that burn dressings of conventional design arenot permeable enough so that the exudate may pass through it and,further, do not have an outer absorbing material that will absorb theexudate after it has passed through the inner lining material. Also,burn dressings of conventional design which allow exudate to passthrough it, do not have sufficient bulk for absorption so that theexudate will not go through the garment and soil the bed in which thepatient is lying.

It is further well known that in burn dressings of conventional designthere is not enough circulation of air so that the air can pass throughthe absorbent material to the patients skin for the purpose of dryingthe exudate and the burn area, so as to allow said burn area in theatmosphere of drying to effect healing.

It is further well known that burn dressings of conventional design arenot of such a shape as to make quick application possible and easy underemergency circumstances, nor are they formed to fit the patients body,nor are they equipped with fastening means to allow them to be retainedon the patients body.

It is further Well known that burn dressings in the form of burngarments of conventional design are not disposable.

One object of my invention is to provide a burn dressing that willrequire no medication, either by way of Vaseline oils or other chemicalsor lubricants.

Another object of my invention is to provide a burn dressing, the innerlining of which, is made of material which is non-adhering to the normalunburned skin and only semi-adhering to the burn areas.

Another object of my invention is to provide a burn dressing, theinnerlining of which is permeable so that the exudate may pass throughit.

Another object of my invention is to provide a burn dressing having anabsorbent material that will be effective to absorb the burn exudate andhave suflicient bulk for absorption so that the exudate will not gothrough the garment and soil the bed on which the patient is lying, withsaid absorbent material being next to the innerlining of the burndressing.

Another object of my invention is to provide a burn dressing-having anabsorbent matereial that is also air permeable, so that sutficient airis allowed to pass through it to the patients skin, for the purpose ofdrying the exudate and burn area, thus allowing the burn area in theatmosphere of drying to effect healing.

Another object of my invention is to make the burn dressing in such ashape, size and design as to make quick application of it possible andeasy, and to have it include fastening means for fastening the burndressing around the particular part of the body of the patient that isburned.

Another object of my invention is to make a burn dressing in the form ofa burn garment that is disposable without being prohibitive in cost.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the invention is hereinafterdeveloped.

In one embodiment of my invention, this burn dressing is constructed ofChina silk or parachute silk for the innerlining. The outer materialconsists of nine to twelve layers of surgical gauze, although you canuse as low as four layers and as high as twenty layers of this gauze toconstitute an effective outer material for absorption purposes. Both theinner lining material, which comes in contact with the skin, and thegauze absorption material which is placed next to the innerlining on thefar side from the skin, are cut to fit anatomical parts of the humanbody as topographical anatomical units rather than indefinite squaresand rectangles. These anatomical parts make it form fitting and consistof the trunk form, upper extremity and lower extremity forms and neck,hands, feet and face forms. These are made in various sizes in eachcategory. After cutting the innerlining and the absorbent material tothe proper size and shape, tape is applied to the edges around theperiphery only of the garment and the silk innerlining and the absorbentouter material are then joined by stitching this tape around saidperiphery so as to join both of them.

In the trunk portion, which is the largest of the individual burngarments, additional stitching in one or more inner margins parallel tothe taped edges and also from the neckline to the base along the spineline of the garment is made in the absorbent material so as to give itstructural strength. This stitching is on the absorbent gauze materialonly, and not on the inner silk lining. The only stitching in the innersilk lining is that to retain the tape along the edges of same so as tojoin it to the absorbent material along their respective peripheries.

In the upper extremities, namely, the right and left arm forms of burngarment the stitching of the gauze runs from shoulder to wrist. In thelower extremities, namely, the right and left leg forms, the stitchingruns from thigh to ankle in the gauze absorbent material. In both theseinstances, this additional stitching which is made for the purpose ofgiving structural strength to the burn garment in question is appliedonly to the gauze absorbent material and not to the innerlining which isin contact with the skin. In the trunk garment there is also a slit inthe base of it along the spine line for access to the patient for enemaand elimination.

The shape of each of these individual components of the complete burndressing for the entire body are de signed to be simply wrapped aroundthe patient with a minimum of effort and discomfort, and fastening meanssuch as tape or ties are placed at appropriate locations so that speedyapplication of the burn dressing can be made to the patient at a time ofemergency when the life of the patient may depend on this speed.

While this invention contemplates the several different shapes of burndressings for various parts of the body, it also contemplates that allcould be combined into one or any individual part could be used withoutthe use of the other.

While parachute silk or China silk has been referred to in the preferredform of this invention, any fine mesh,-

rayon acetate fabric or its equivalent, which is inert and has slightelasticity and has a fine enough mesh of sufficient size to allowprotein fluid and exudate to pass through the rayon acetate or suchother material as is its equivalent to the absorbent layer of gauze andwhich fine mesh is close enough to form a covering and form a frameworkwithin the formation of the healing cellular tissue so as to form a partof the healing scab and reinforce it and act as a supporting structurefor the healing scab, may be used, and such is the contemplation of thisinvention.

i In addition to the surgical gauze used in the preferred form of thisinvention, many other absorbent materials having the ability to absorbthe exudate from the burn and being porous and permeable enough to allowair circulation to the burn area can be used, and such is thecontemplation of this invention.

A more complete understanding of my invention may be had from thefollowing complete description taken in conjunction with the appendeddrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a spreadout view of the trunk form of burn dressing viewedfrom the absorbing side.

FIGURE 2 is a spreadout view of the same trunk form of burn dressingshown in FIGURE 1, except that it is viewed from the silk body contactside of same.

FIGURE 3 is a spreadout view of the upper extremity form of burndressing for the right or left arm viewed from the absorbent side of thedressing.

FIGURE 4 is the same upper extremity burn dressing as shown on FIGURE 3but viewed from the silk body contact side of same.

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view taken through line 55 of FIGURE 1showing the silk body contact side on the top and the gauze absorbentside on the bottom as shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view taken through line 66 of FIGURE 3showing the silk body contact side on the top and the gauze absorbentside on the bottom as shown in FIGURE 4.

My preferred form of improvement in burn dressing comprises nine totwelve layers of a loose weave absorbent material known as surgicalgauze 10a conformed to the trunk portion of the body between the neckand the waist to be wrapped in said burn dressing which said layers ofsurgical gauze are stitched along the margin lines 29, 30, 31, 32, 33,34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50', 51,52 and 53 and along spine lines 27, 27a and 27b. Said absorbent gauzelayers as so stitched are then fastened to a similarly shaped sheet ofparachute silk 10b by tapes 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 28 by appropriate stitching by thread or othersuitable means; said conformed parachute silk sheet 10b having nostitching in it other than that through which it is bound to the tapesand through the tapes to the surgical gauze sheets. Said burn dressingas above described having attached thereto at appropriate points alongits periphery adhesive tabs 61 aflixed to effectively secure the burndressing in its proper position around the patient with the parachutesilk side in contact with the patients skin including both the burnedand unburned portions thereof by sticking same to those portions of theburn dressing which come closest to said tabs when the burn dressing isso wrapped around the patient. Although my preferred form of improvementin burn dressings comprises nine to twelve layers of surgical gauze lessthen nine layers and more than twelve layers can be used witheffectiveness and such is the contemplation of this invention. Also,while I have indicated the use of surgical gauze in my preferred form ofthis invention any loosely woven, absorbent material or even non-woven,absorbent material that will allow circulation of air as well asabsorption of the burn exudate can be used and such is the contemplationof this invention. It is further to be noted that in describing mypreferred form of this invention, I have described a material known asparachute silk which is generally rayon acetate material. Othermaterials, however, can be used which have a relatively fine weave butnot too fine to prevent burn exudate from passing through same into thesurgical gauze or other absorbent material comprising theoutside layerof the dressing and which has a relatively non-adhering surface such asa shiny surface so that it will not adhere to the unburned skin of thepatient with whom it comes in contact and such is the contemplation ofthis invention. My preferred form of invention also provides for certainstitching along margin lines of the along lines other than the marginaland spine lines in the body trunk form of burn dressing as well as inthe extremity forms shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 6 and other forms forother portions of the body and such is the contemplation of thisinvention. The description of my preferred form of invention includesthe fastening of the inside parachute silk layer to the outside surgicalgauze layer by means of tapes folded around the respective edges of saidinner and outer layers and stitched to and through same as disclosed inthe drawings filed with this specification. The joining of the saidinner and outer layers of the burn dressing can, however, be made by theuse of adhesive tape or by mere stitching without the tape or by otherfastening means and such is the contemplation of this invention. Mypreferred form of invention also provides periphery adhesive tabs 61 forfastening the burn dressing in its wrapped position around the body ofthe patient. Other fastening means can be used such as snaps, hooks,tieable non-adhesive tapes and other fastening means and such is thecontemplation of this invention.

FIGURES 3, 4 and 6 show a burn dressing for the upper extremities thatis to say the arms of the patient again conformed to that portion of thebody so that it can be quickly wrapped around the arm, the constructionof said burn dressing being the same as for the body trunk formheretofore described herein except for the location of the stitchingwhich binds the absorbent surgical gauze layers together. In the armdressing nine to twelve layers of absorbent surgical gauze 55a formed asshown in FIG- URE 3 is stitched along lines 60 and 62. The outerabsorbent layer is then attached to a similarly shaped inner bodycontact layer of parachute silk 5511 by tabs 56, 57, 58 and 59 byappropriate stitching by thread or other suitable material. Here again,conformed silk sheet 55b has no stitching in it other then that by whichit is bound to the tabs and through the tabs to the surgical gauzesheets. Here also adhesive tabs 61 are aflixed at appropriate pointsalong the outer periphery of the burn dressing to secure the same in itsproper position on the patient, sticking said tabs to those portions ofthe burn dressing which come closest to the tabs when the burn dressingis wrapped around the patient with the parchute silk inner layer incontact with the patients burned and unburned skin.

Other modifications and adaptations of the above disclosures arecontemplated and it is understood that my invention is limited only bythe scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A burn dressing shaped to conform generally to the anatomicalcontours of the human body adaptable to be quickly wrapped around it andcomprising an inner lining of non-adhering permeable, lightweight finelywoven fabric adaptable for placement in contact with burned, andsurrounding non-burned, body areas of a person suffering from burns, anabsorbent outer ma--- and stitched thereto and fastening means forsecurely fastening said burn dressing over, and with the inner lining incontact with, the burned portion of the patient, effective to cover saidburned portion and surrounding unburned areas and become embedded in theburned portion and act as a reinforcing thereof which together with thesupporting cellular tissue acts as a structure as it heals to a scabwhile at the same time, not adhering to the unburned portion of the skinit is in contact with, and simultaneously to allow the exudate to issuefrom the burned portion and pass through said permeable inner lining andbe absorbed by the absorbent loosely woven outer material, and also topermit sufiicient ventilation of the burned portion by allowing thesurrounding air to pass through the loosely woven absorbent outermaterial to and through the permeable inner lining to the burned portionof the patient to accelerate healing thereof.

2. A burn dressing shaped to conform generally to the anatomicalcontours of the human body adaptable to be quickly wrapped around it andcomprising an inner lining of non-adhering permeable, surgical rayonacetate of fine mesh known as parachute silk adaptable for placement incontact with burned, and surrounding non-burned, body areas of a personsuffering from burns, an absorbent outer material of 2 to 20 layers oftype VII U.S.P. surgical cotton gauze of mesh size in the general areaof 20" by 12" stitched together at such locations and along such linesas will limit sliding of the multiple layers with respect to each otherand effective to reinforce, strengthen and give structure to saidmulitple layers of surgical cotton mesh gauze, and placed next to, andcoextensive in size and shape with, said inner lining and aflixedthereto along their respective contiguous edges by tape wrapped aroundsaid contiguous edges and stitched thereto and fastening means forsecurely fastening said burn dressing over, and with the inner lining incontact with, the burned portion of the patient, eflective to cover saidburned portion and surrounding unburned areas and become embedded in theburned portion and act as a reinforcing thereof which together with thesupporting cellular tissue acts as a structure as it heals to a scabwhile at the same time, not adhering to the unburned portion of the skinit is in contact with, and simultaneously to allow the exudate to issuefrom the burned portion and pass through said permeable inner lining andbe absorbed by the absorbent loosely woven outer material, and also topermit sufiicient ventilation of the burned portion by allowing thesurrounding air to pass through the loosely woven absorbent outermaterial to and through the permeable inner lining to the burned portionof the patient to accelerate healing thereof.

3. A burn dressing shaped to conform to the anatomical contours of thehuman body, comprising: an inner lining of non-adhering, permeable,lightweight, finely woven fabric for placement in contact with burnedand non-burned body areas; an absorbent outer material comprisingmultiple layers of loosely woven gauze, said layers being stitchedtogether at such locations and along such lines as to limit relativesliding between said layers and to reinforce, strengthen and givestructure to said outer material; said outer material being placed nextto, and being coextensive in size and shape with, said inner lining, andbeing affixed thereto along their respective contiguous edges by a tapewrapped about said edges and stitched thereto; and fastening means forsecurely fastening said burn dressing about the body so that said innerlining is in contact with said burned and unburned areas and iseffective to become embedded in said burned areas without adhering tosaid unburned area.

4. A burn dressing in accordance with claim 3, wherein said inner liningis a fine mesh surgical rayon acetate fabric.

5. A burn dressing in accordance with claim 3, wherein said outermaterial comprises 4 to 20 layers of type VII U.S.P. surgical cottongauze.

6. A burn dressing in accordance with claim 3, wherein said inner liningis a rayon acetate fabric of the type known as parachute silk andwherein said outer mate rial comprises 9 to 12 layers of type VII U.S.P.surgical cotton gauze having a mesh size of about 20 by about 12 perinch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,926,665 3/1960 Seese 128-4553,089,492 5/ 1963 Owens 128-268 3,118,446 1/1964 Tengquist 128-156 ADELEM. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

2. A BURN DRESSING SHAPED TO CONFORM GENERALLY TO THE ANATOMICALCONTOURS OF THE HUMAN BODY ADAPTABLE TO BE QUICKLY WRAPPED AROUND IT ANDCOMPRISING AN INNER LINING OF NON-ADHERING PERMEABLE, SURGICAL RAYONACETATE OF FINE MESH KNOWN AS "PARACHUTE SILK" ADAPTABLE FOR PLACEMENTIN CONTACT WITH BURNED, AND SURROUNDING NON-BURNED, BODY AREAS OF APERSON SUFFERING FROM BURNS, AN ABSORBENT OUTER MATERIAL OF 2 TO 20LAYERS OF TYPE VII U.S.P. SURGICAL COTTON GAUZE OF MESH SIZE IN THEGENERAL AREA OF 20" BY 12" STITCHED TOGETHER AT SUCH LOCATIONS AND ALONGSUCH LINES AS WILL LIMIT SLIDING OF THE MULTIPLE LAYERS WITH RESPECT TOEACH OTHER AND EFFECTIVE TO REINFORCE, STRENGTHEN AND GIVE STRUCTURE TOSAID MULTIPLE LAYERS OF SURGICAL COTTON MESH GAUZE, AND PLACED NEXT TO,AND COEXTENSIVE IN SIZE AND SHAPE WITH, SAID INNER LINING AND AFFIXEDTHERETO ALONG THEIR RESPECTIVE CONTIGUOUS EDGES BY TAPE WRAPPED AROUNDSAID CONTIGUOUS EDGES AND STITCHED THERETO AND FASTENING MEANS FORSECURELY FASTENING SAID BURN DRESSING OVER, AND WITH THE INNER LINING INCONTACT WITH, THE BURNED PORTION OF THE PATIENT, EFFECTIVE TO COVER SAIDBURNED PORTION AND SURROUNDING UNBURNED AREAS AND BECOME EMBEDDED IN THEBURNED PORTION AND ACT AS A REINFORCING THEREOF WHICH TOGETHER WITH THESUPPORTING CELLULAR TISSUE ACTS AS A STRUCTURE AS IT HEALS TO A SCABWHILE AT THE SAME TIME, NOT ADHERING TO THE UNBURNED PORTION OF THE SKINIT IS IN CONTACT WITH, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY TO ALLOW THE EXUDATE TO ISSUEFROM THE BURNED PORTION AND PASS THROUGH SAID PERMEABLE INNER LINING ANDBE ABSORBED BY THE ABSORBENT LOOSELY WOVEN OUTER MATERIAL, AND ALSO TOPERMIT SUFFICIENT VENTILATION OF THE BURNED PORTION BY ALLOWING THESURROUNDING AIR TO PASS THROUGH THE LOOSELY WOVEN ABSORBENT OUTERMATERIAL TO AND THROUGH THE PERMEABLE INNER LINING TO THE BURNED PORTIONOF THE PATIENT TO ACCELERATE HEALING THEREOF.